Hi everyone! I'm back with some good news: I'm finally getting a little bit of a break at work and hopefully will be updating my stories (and probably posting new ones) in a more organized schedule. So here's Chapter 8! I was originally going to have this chapter be the unit working the case but a Guest requested a scene "where Hailey hears Jay talking to Will and breaking down about everything, then having her try to comfort him as well" and I just couldn't resist. So this chapter is kinda meant to be a transition from some Upstead angst to the unit's search to find Ace. I also don't want to drag it out too much so I will be wrapping up the case portion in the next chapter or two. I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter and what you'd like to read in the future :)

*Special shout out to thetwit and haileys-jay on Tumblr for hearing all my crazy messy plotlines and helping me choose what content to keep and toss as well as all the love and support from the "Let's Talk Upstead" group chat :)

CHAPTER 8

After the phone call, thanks to Adam's shocking new finding, things had once again picked up some pace and given them some kind of distraction from Hailey's current situation. Jay had insisted that Kevin and Hank return to the district and brief the team on their time at Stateville, even though there hadn't been much to go off of except for non-verbal confirmation that one of the suspects involved was in fact Shane Sullivan, but they'd no intentions of leaving the two detectives alone. About an hour or so, and some firm negotiations later, Kevin and Hank'd agreed to take a patrol car back to Chicago and get back to work when Will arrived, leaving Hank's car to Jay despite all objections coming from the detective.

It was 3:37am when Hailey's OB, Dawn, walked out of her hospital room to find the Halstead brothers waiting for her expectantly. She softly closed the door behind herself, she motioned for them to walk away from the room a little to talk to them in private. "How are they?" Jay immediately asked when they were far enough away from the door.

"They are doing okay now, resting. Hailey's in and out from the sedatives, but given the situation, I'd like her to be out as much as possible." Dawn started, giving Jay a sympathetic look, having watched the news and driven there with Will, she was aware of the abduction of the cheeky Halstead she'd delivered. "From what I read on Dr. Awtrey's notes, the babies were in quite some distress when she was admitted. I just did another ultrasound and the babies seem to have finally settled down." She briefly paused to find the best words, Jay's blood freezing at the 'but' coming waiting for Dawn to continue. "But the ultrasound showed some placental abnormality." She added softly.

"What kind of placental abnormality?" Will asked, immediately going into emergency medicine doctor mode.

"Now, ultrasounds aren't 100% accurate about this stuff, and there is no reason to panic, but I have reason to believe that Hailey has a very mild case of placental detachment." She explained, putting emphasis on two words: very mild.

"How mild are we talking about here? Does it require medical intervention?" Will further inquired, a supportive hand on a speechless Jay's shoulder.

"No." Dawn shook her head. "Not yet, anyway. Though, I do want to keep her under observation through the weekend, see if her symptoms will repeat themselves or worsen." Jay took a sharp intake of breath. "And regardless, I want Hailey on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy." The unspoken rest, 'whether that lasts for another couple hours or weeks,' hanging in the air.

"What's the worst case here?" Jay finally spoke up, snapping out of his initial shock.

"Jay, we don't have to think about that." Will intervened. He knew there was a lot on their plate as is, and Jay didn't need to hear about potential complications, especially not when Hailey's case was nowhere near those.

"Your brother is right. There's no need to think like that."

"Please. I just want to be prepared." Jay was ready to beg if needed. He just needed to know. He needed to know what they were up against so he could fight it.

"The kind of abnormality I'm referring to is very very mild and the bed rest is simply to play it safe given the stress Hailey's under." Dawn took a deep breath and explained herself further with a reassuring tone before going into what ifs. "I will be monitoring her and the babies closely for any kind of distress, any change in ultrasound screenings and bleeding. And about the worst case," She paused once again to find the right words. "As Will said, we are nowhere close to worst case scenarios here but I know you want to hear them and I respect that." Delivering bad news and potential risks were nothing new to Dawn's career, but having known the family as Will's friend and then Hailey's OB, the conversation was harder to be had. "Now if there is in fact a placental detachment or abruption and it progresses further, it might lead to complications during delivery, putting both mother and babies at risk."

"Oh God…" Tears stung Jay's eyes as he tried really hard to not break down at what he was hearing. His body wavered with gravity pulling it down while his knees fought to keep him up. The sudden change in his brother's posture made Will tighten his grip on his Jay's shoulder.

"Jay, as I said, we are nowhere near that." Dawn repeated her words from before. "And we will closely monitor Hailey and the babies to make sure we don't get there. I have no reason to believe Hailey won't go full term with the twins or that they are in any immediate danger." All Jay could do was blink away his tears and nod at Dawn's attempts at reassuring him.

"Umm…" Jay coughed a couple times to clear his voice, to find it. "Does Hailey know?"

"I've told her that we will be monitoring her and she will be on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy, didn't go into too many details to keep her stress levels manageable. She was falling asleep when I left."

"Okay…" Jay took deep breaths. "Okay..." He was saying okay but he wasn't really processing what was happening.

"Dawn, what comes next?" Will asked for his brother.

"If Jay'll sign off on it, I'd really like to transport her back to Med while the sedatives are still helping her rest. That way she can rest through the ride and we can have our own team watching her."

"Jay?" Will looked at his brother for an answer.

"Yea, that sounds good."

"I'll go talk to Dr. Awtrey and arrange for her transport."

"That would be great, thanks, Dawn."

"Of course." She flashed the brothers an understanding smile that didn't reach anyone's eyes. "Jay, they are safe and I will make sure they stay safe, okay?" She tried offering some peace of mind before she walked away, receiving a bittersweet nod from younger Halstead, who was battling all the emotions running through his body, fighting the tears in his eyes and sobs in his throat from escaping.

"Umm… I'm gonna-" Jay motioned towards Hailey's room once he was left alone with Will, and the older Halstead immediately followed suit, walking close behind his brother, ready to offer physical support if he needed it. Will could sense his brother was close to falling apart with Dawn's news added on top of the already shitty day they were having. He was surprised that Jay'd been able to keep it together for as long as he had, which meant if and when Jay finally gave into his emotions, it would be explosive.

Will watched his brother stumble towards Hailey's room and pause when his hands grabbed the handle, taking deep heavy breaths just staring at the sterile hospital room door. He could see Jay's hands shaking as he pushed the handle down yet remained still, not making a single move to push open the door or take a step inside. Over the years, Will had learned the signs of his brother's breaking point, especially when Hailey'd gotten shot on the job for the first time as Jay's partner a couple months after her return from New York and Jay'd pretty much lived at Med for a week and a half, and so had he. He'd never seen his brother go through such emotional agony and rage before but he'd stayed by his side, watched him, learned how to console him when his head took him to horrible places.

So when Jay's knees finally gave out in front of his wife's hospital room, Will knew exactly what to do. Thankfully having kept a close distance, he reached out to hold onto Jay's upper body to break his fall, and steadily guided him to sit against the wall before joining him on the floor. "Hey, Jay, Jay, hey, it's okay." Will rubbed Jay's back soothingly as the younger Halstead sat on the cold tile floor, his body hunched over his knees, shaking uncontrollably trying to fight his pain. "Jay, it's okay, just let it all out..."

"Will, I'm scared." Jay choked out the words between sobs. "I don't know how to fix this and I'm scared."

"I know." Will softly whispered his hushes, wrapping his arms around Jay and pulling him to his side in a brotherly embrace. "I know." He didn't say anything else, giving Jay some much needed time to let his feelings take over, let him cry, let him break down.

"I can't lose them." Jay pulled away from Will's embrace and muttered once his sobs died and his voice returned. "Any of them."

"And you won't." Will tried consoling him as they sat shoulder to shoulder, backs against the wall now, though he knew his words wouldn't be enough to convince the younger Halstead. Hell, they weren't enough to convince himself. "Your unit's working on getting Ace back and you heard Dawn: we will make sure Hailey and the twins stay safe. No one's losing anyone here."

"I can't live without them, Will, I just can't." Jay sniffled, rubbing his eyes to wipe any remaining tears away. "Today was supposed to be a happy day. We were gonna celebrate Hailey's maternity leave. Dinner and movie night with Ace. And now…" He closed his eyes and frowned. "Now our daughter is missing, and I might lose Hailey and the twins, and I just… I won't survive losing them. What do I do? How do I make this better?"

"Jay don't think like that." It was time to change strategies. "Instead answer this: Do you trust your unit?"

"Of course I do." Jay answered without hesitating, but confused.

"Do you trust Dawn to take care of Hailey and the twins?"

"Yes." Again not missing a beat.

"And do you trust me?"

"What's with all the questions?" He finally asked, not able to figure out where Will was going with these questions.

"Just answer it! Do you trust me?" Will pushed.

"You're a pain in my ass but you're a good brother, Will. Of course I trust you."

"Then trust me and all of us to take care of your family." Will requested empathetically. "You're not alone, Jay. It's okay to lean onto others when life throws too much at you. It's okay to show your feelings."

"I feel so weak, like somehow this is all my fault, and I continue to fail everyone."

"Failing everyone? Jay, you're doing your best."

"My best… What if my best isn't enough?" He asked the question he'd been thinking the whole day. "What do I do then?"

"When your best isn't enough, your family's will be." Will softly nudged him on the shoulder as if scolding him for underestimating his family. "Jay, you, Hailey, Ace, the twins, you have an army of first responders and the literal army behind you. We will find Ace, and she will safely come home to you and Hailey, and she will meet her brothers when the time comes." He looked at his baby brother with glistening eyes as they shared a moment. "Plus, we are Halsteads for crying out loud. We don't go down without a fight. You of all people should know that."

"You know I meant what I said a moment ago, right? You are a pain in my ass, but you are the best brother I could ask for."

"I'm gonna remind you of your words when this is all over. You better not deny any of it." Will joked, finally getting an opportunity for some much needed comic relief. Jay was about to respond with a sarcastic comment when Hailey's quiet voice calling his name drew his attention, and both their heads whipped towards the cracked open door.

"Jay?" He listened closely. Wasn't sure if he was hearing correctly until he heard it again, quiet, but strong. "Jay?" They immediately jumped to their feet when Hailey called for him again, louder this time and Jay looked at Will panicked, silently asking him what to do.

"Hey, you go in and be with her. I'll help Dawn with the arrangements."

"Okay." Jay took deep breaths and rubbed his face a couple times, trying to hide his tear stained, red, puffy face and bloodshot eyes, before walking into Hailey's dimly lit room and quickly made his way by her side.

"Jay?" Hailey whispered from the bed, her voice drowsy from the sedatives, yet strong; her eyes closed but her hand reaching for Jay, desperately needing his reassuring presence as much as he needed hers.

"I'm here, Hails." He gently grabbed her hand and put a reassuring kiss on it as he sat on the chair he'd pulled up next to her bed from when she was first brought in. "I'm here, baby."

"Jay…" She muttered his name again, more of a statement rather than a question this time.

"I'm here." He repeated, trying to hide the alarm in his voice. "Are you okay? Should I get a doctor?"

"No… no…" Her voice trailed into a deep sigh and she opened her eyes. "I… heard. Will and you…"

"Hey don't worry about that."

"We… We'll be okay." It was getting harder for her to keep her eyes open, so she squeezed his hand instead. "We'll all be okay." She said firmer this time, and even though Jay'd heard the same phrase from almost everyone he knew, for the first time that day, he started to actually believe it.

"Of course we will be. You, me, the twins and our Ace." He smiled his first genuine smile of the night as he put another kiss on her hand.

"We love you." She forced herself to open her eyes to say the words and for the moment, they let the blues and greens of eachothers' eyes console one another.

"And I love you even more, partner." There was so much packed into their words as Hailey drifted back to sleep: hope, comfort, support, love… But even more so, hearing Hailey's sleepy yet warm and lively voice again for the first time that day sparked a new kind of hope in him, and he'd hold onto it for as much as it took to get their daughter back.

Meanwhile at the district the unit was working tirelessly trying to make sense of the new clues they'd found. The large clock in the conference room read 4:21am, meaning they were going into the eighteenth hour of Aislyn's abduction with still only theories and not enough evidence. When the 2:00am shift change had rolled, the officers and detectives from missing persons had tapped out for a couple hours break, giving the unit some time to do this investigation their way. As minutes passed, coffee started running low and they started approaching sunrise, Hank had offered, even attempted to order the unit to take a break, get some sleep but no one had been interested. They'd taken turns napping on the break room couch, going on food and coffee runs, none of them wanted to stop looking for Ace. This was their district, their house, and a member of their family was missing, they weren't about to take any breaks unless absolutely necessary, especially not when they got their district to themselves for the first time in eighteen hours. "Alright, let's run it again. Everything." Hank called out from the head of the table.

"Our main suspects are Shane Sullivan and an unknown accomplice, who we have reason to believe to be Camila Vega." Adam walked over to the whiteboard, rubbing his eyes, trying to shake the sleep off, as he started going through everything they'd found. "Our first encounter with Shane Sullivan was in 2020 for a Bridgeport robbery turned homicide; however, due to lack of evidence, no charges stuck on the case and Shane was sentenced to four years for DV charges against his wife."

"And the possibility of the wife's involvement?" Hank asked.

"Michelle Sullivan has been Michelle Roberts since their divorce was finalized after Shane was sent to prison. She currently lives in Phoenix, AZ with her brother and has not made any contact with Shane since." Vanessa answered, a cup of coffee in one hand and notes in the other, as she checked her notes.

"So what do we have on Shane?"

"Shane Sullivan spent the last 5 and a half years serving his 4 year DV sentence with a total of eighteen extra months added for prison violence charges, where he was bunked with Ronald Booth after Booth's roommate was transferred to solitary. He was released from Stateville on the 17th of October, 2025 and from Booth's visitor logs, he has remained in close contact with Booth since." Vanessa summarized their findings, pointing at photos and findings on the board.

"Do we have transcripts of each communication?"

"We do, but they must have agreed on a code before Shane was released. All they talk about is the weather and flowers." Adam pointed at the box of printed prison communication transcripts between Booth and Shane.

"Flowers?" Kevin asked, something about the topic ringing a bell from an old case.

"Yes, here," Vanessa walked over to the box and looked through the numerous pages before taking out a couple stacks with highlighted and circled sections. "There were multiple conversations about Shane looking to get flower nurseries." She started reading the most recent exchange from Monday afternoon.

Visitor: Finally found the primrose nursery we've been looking for. Perfect for the new florist.

Inmate 162716: Oh yeah? You sure that's the one?

Visitor: Just like we were hoping for. Very convenient location. Close to the Children's Museum.

Inmate 162716: When are you closing the deal on it?

Visitor: Next week, around noon.

Inmate 162716: And you have everything ready,?

Visitor: Yes, everything is all set. Don't worry, man. We'll close the deal.

Inmate 162716: Don't get cocky with me. I might be on this side of the glass but you screw this up, and you'll wish you never met me, we clear?

"They are talking about Aislyn." Kim whispered to herself, hearing the transcript for the first time and the hidden meaning between the lines.

"What about his parole conditions? Where did he go after his release? Who is he with?" Hank asked.

"His release forms have him staying with a friend, Kenneth Duncan, another ex-con, at 4172 South Wallace Street, in Canaryville, and according to his PO's notes he's kept every appointment and every house check."

"Until the beginning of this week." Kim joined in, checking her notes. "Patrol went to check on Shane and according to Mr. Duncan, Shane hasn't been home since Monday night."

"So Shane went to see Booth, and disappeared?" Hank grunted in frustration and rubbed his temples. "And, Shane's suspected accomplice? What do we have on Camila Vega?"

"Even less." Adam spoke again as he flipped the other side of the board, turning everyone's attention to the hidden side of the white board with Camila's photo and information on it. Given the two detectives' past with Camila, they'd wanted to run this part of their investigation in house. "After her encounter with us in 2018, Camila Vega was sentenced to eight years in prison for possession; she did six with good behavior, and got out in January, 2024." Adam looked around for a manila folder with more information on Camila and flipped through his findings. "Her parole report is any POs dream. She's kept a low profile since getting out: working as a waitress in a cafe in New City, renting an apartment in West Englewood, volunteering with veterans." He took a deep breath, frustrated that his research didn't give them much. "The only thing connecting her to Shane is her deceased brother's car and plates." Silence fell as Adam's frustration spread across the room. "She hasn't popped in any communication with Booth, nor in any surveillance footage."

"Booth, Shane, Camila, the car…" Voight was the one to break the silence. "This many connections can't be coincidences, but Adam's right. We don't have enough to link Camila to Aislyn's abduction." He took a deep breath. "Yet. Adam, I want you and Kim to run point on digging deeper into Camila Vega. Visit her neighborhood and work. Ask around about her recent behavior." Adam and Kim nodded at their new assignments. "Be discreet. Until we have solid evidence that Camila Vega is without a doubt involved with Aislyn's abduction, this information does not leave this group of people. Understood?"

"You got it, Serge!" Everyone spoke a version of their confirmation, some followed by yawns and eye rubs. They were all tired, but they'd be damned if they stopped.

And that was chapter 8! I hope you enjoyed it. As mentioned above, I just can't resist requests so this chapter ended up being a Halstead family moment with angsty Upstead but this time I promise the next chapters will be focused on the case and wrapping it up :) I miss writing Ace as much as y'all miss reading about her. In the meantime, I'd love to hear what you think, and what you'd like to read in the upcoming chapters. I'm looking forward to reading what you thought about this chapter and what you'd like to see. Until next time, stay safe out there and be kind to yourself and others!